Park Record | 2014-05-24 | Page 2

A-2 Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, May 24-27, 2014 The Park Record The Park Record. Serving Summit County since 1880 The Park Record, Park City's No. 1 source for local news, opinions and advertising, is now available for home delivery in Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties. Single copies are also available at 116 locations throughout Park City, Heber City, Summit County, Salt Lake City. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: In Summit County (home delivery) $48 per year (includes Sunday edition of Salt Lake Tribune) Out of Summit County (home delivery avail in Wasatch, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties, all other addresses will be mailed through the U.S. Postal Service) $72 per year To subscribe please call [phone] or log on to www.parkrecord.com and click "Subscribe" To report a missing paper, please call [phone] Home Delivery Complaint Recovery hours will be reduced, as follows: * Monday - Friday 6:30-8:00AM * Saturday 7:00-8:00AM * Sunday 7:00-10:30AM To request a vacation hold, please call [phone] or email [e-mail] To request a change of address, please call [phone] or email [e-mail] THE NEWSROOM: To contact the newsroom, please call 435-649-9014 or email [e-mail] For display advertising, please call a sales representative at 435-6499014 or email [e-mail] To place a classified ad, please call [phone] or email [e-mail] For questions about your bill, please call [phone] or email [e-mail] The Park Record online is available at www.parkrecord.com and contains all of the news and feature stories in the latest edition plus breaking news updates. The Record's Web site also hosts interactive entertainment, restaurant and lodging listings, multimedia features and community blog forums. Contents of The Park Record are copyright © 2004, Utah Media Inc. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the managing editor or publisher. The Park Record (USPS 378-730) (ISSN 0745-9483) is published twice weekly by Utah Media Inc., 1670 Bonanza Drive, Park City, Utah, 84060. Periodicals Postage Paid at Salt Lake City, Utah, 84199-9655 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Park Record, P.O. Box 3688, Park City, Utah, 84060. Entered as second-class matter, May 25, 1977, at the Post Office in Park City, Utah, 84060 under the Act of March 3, 1897. Subscription rates are: $48 within Summit County, $72 outside of Summit County, Utah. Subscriptions are transferable: $5 cancellation fee. Phone [phone], fax [phone] or email [e-mail]. Published every Wednesday and Saturday. Continued From A-1 Discovery rejected velopment, Baird said, and increased road grades prevent additional cutting and filling of the landscape, as well as retaining walls. He added that developers could come back with a site plan that fully complies with the code, but that such a design would present drawbacks, including the following: • No parks • No public open space • No trail connection to Toll Canyon Open Space • ‘Cookie cutter' 28-foot-wide homes • No backyards • Greater environmental impact Baird and Lent added that there are already areas such as Glenwild and The Colony that have road grades greater than 8 percent, and areas such as Bear Hollow Village that have smaller setbacks. Council member Dave Ure pointed to the safety hazards the development would present. "Going into a stop sign with an 8 to 12 percent slope, I'm telling you, in reality, you can't stop, especially in this terrain where you have snow for nine months," Ure said, who also pointed to a concern about inadequate snow storage in the neighborhood. During the public hearing, Summit Park resident Neil Fisher questioned whether the public open space, parks and trails that would be taken off the table with the ‘100 percent compliant' design were because of layout issues or whether they were "threats." Baird had several times urged the Council to "call his bluff" that developers would build a development that would not offer such benefits. Council member Roger Armstrong was stunned by Baird's presentation. "I've never seen, in any situation in a quasi-judicial hearing, where counsel has led with a threat. It's actually remarkable to me," Armstrong said. "It doesn't put me in a good state of mind to analyze the issues." Lent maintained that the current Snyderville Basin Development Code is for "suburban Sandy" and that the code must be changed in order to promote clustering and open space. He added that the American Association Continued From A-1 It's 'business as usual' Mike Sweeney, whose family owns the Town Lift Plaza at the bottom of PCMR's Town Lift, also used the phrase "business as usual" when talking about the next ski season. He said businesses at the Town Lift Plaza are not worried about the impacts of the case. "What I see is a stay tuned for the next two years as it goes through the appeals process. This is not over by a long shot," Sweeney said. Sweeney, however, said he is concerned with the idea that a Talisker Land Holdings, LLC victory could result in a split of the upper terrain of State Highway and Transportation Officials says that road grades up to 15 percent are acceptable. Public speaks out Before public input opened, residents began to line up next to the podium to speak, most of whom were in opposition to the project. Bill Hickey said the Discovery project was "grandfathered in" on the repealed CORE code, which he called "well-intentioned" but "fatally flawed." He added the developer does not have the "right" to build on the property. Jim Roberts, who lives on a parcel adjacent to the property, pointed to the dangers the increased road grades would pose, saying that guests at his home cannot even get up his driveway in the wintertime due to the grade and conditions. Kathy Rasmussen, however, spoke in favor of the project, saying that the county had initially approached the developers, asking them to build affordable housing on the property. Jeremy Ranch resident Josh Mann urged the Council not to give in to Baird's "threats," stating that the developer cannot withhold mandatory open space from residents. After public input, Armstrong said the whole process had felt "extortive" and that the Council could not approve the project under any circumstances. Council member Claudia McMullin was blunter in her rebuke. "One thing I know for sure is that we did not create the special exception to horse-trade a deal," McMullin said. "You wasted our time, you wasted the public's time, and it means you have absolutely no regard for this community." With Council Chair Chris Robinson absent, the Council voted 4-0 to deny the special exceptions for the Discovery project. Lent said developers will move forward with a final plat that will be in full compliance with the code. "I think emotions got in the way of really doing what was best for the community," Lent said, adding that the county did not provide an appropriate "vehicle" for affordable housing to be provided. "The unfortunate part is that these standards have been allowed throughout the county. They're holding us to a higher standard than what's been allowed throughout the county." Lent said that community members were opposed to the project "in general" and that if they had understood the special exceptions requested, they would have been in favor of it. "[The county] wanted our help, and it's been a fight from day one," Lent said. "They have not been a fair partner. This is really a public/private partnership to provide affordable housing." at PCMR from the lower terrain and base area. The upper terrain is at stake in the lawsuit, but the lower terrain is controlled by the PCMR side and not involved in the case. It would be devastating if the terrain used to access the Town Lift runs is cut off eventually, he said. "If there's no skiing into Old Town, that's going to create a tremendous negative impact," he said, calling it a "worst-case scenario" and saying Main Street would be hurt badly. Mayor Jack Thomas released a statement after the rulings saying there is "every reason to expect that resort operations will continue uninterrupted." The statement said he hopes the sides continue to focus on "the importance of putting resort operations, employees and the community in the forefront." Thomas in an interview said both sides appear committed to "working this out." "We're pretty optimistic about Park City Mountain Resort opening next year," Thomas said. Continued From A-1 Judge backs Talisker skiing terrain at the resort. The initial term ran until 1991 and an extension ended in 2011. PCMR had the option to extend the lease until 2051. The renewal was not exercised, Talisker Land Holdings, LLC claimed, prompting PCMR to bring the lawsuit in 2012. The Talisker Land Holdings, LLC side released a prepared statement on Wednesday saying it was pleased with the ruling. The statement read, in part: "Talisker looks forward to bringing in Vail Resorts as its new tenant and operator of the terrain. By pursuing this lawsuit, PCMR caused years of unnecessary uncertainty for the Park City community and its guests. It's now time for PCMR to move on and work out a realistic solution for access to the ski terrain from Park City. Talisker also looks forward to concluding the rest of the court case, including working out the amount of back rent and damages owed to Talisker by PCMR." PCMR released a prepared statement from John Cumming, the CEO of resort owner Powdr Corp. He said PCMR and Vail Resorts must negotiate a settlement. "We respect the Court's decision but at the end of the day it doesn't change the fact that Vail and PCMR can and must resolve this dispute. For that to happen, both parties will need to sit down at the table, negotiate in good faith, and come to a rational agreement. We are committed to doing exactly that, which is why we have made repeated offers to buy or lease the disputed property for an amount far in excess of market value. But let me be clear: we will not walk away and allow a Vail takeover," Cumming said, in part. In a separate prepared statement, Alan Sullivan, PCMR's lead attorney, said the PCMR side will appeal the rulings and that PCMR will operate as normal for the 2014-2015 ski season. A court date is scheduled on June 19 for Harris to consider a motion from Talisker Land Holdings, LLC asking that PCMR be found to be unlawfully occupying the land, a legal doctrine known as unlawful detainer. Harris will hear arguments about the Talisker Land Holdings, LLC side's move to evict PCMR from the terrain. A de facto eviction notice, called an order of restitution, was submitted in April for the judge to consider if he ruled in favor of Talisker Land Holdings, LLC. Some of the notable sections in the judge's Wednesday ruling include: • a comment about his unwillingness to create an exception to precedents that require strict compliance with the terms of a lease. "Creation of an exception in cases Continued From A-1 Honor the fallen family members regardless of whether they were veterans. Many of the involving large, complex multi-party transactions would relieve sophisticated parties -- precisely the ones who have at their disposal top-flight legal advice -- from the consequences of their own negligence in failing to adhere to their own carefully-negotiated documents, while leaving apartment lessees and small storefront businesses without a similar avenue for relief. Viewed from a long-term perspective, creation of this sort of exception, in the name of equity, would be decidedly inequitable." • a statement about PCMR's contention that City Hall planning and zoning decisions envisioned the upper terrain at the resort and the base area to operate as one. "As far as the Court can tell, there is no specific language anywhere in the Development Agreement, Annexation Agreement, or deed restriction that actually requires the Resort Lands to be operated in tandem with the PCMR base area. While the Court can certainly understand, from a community perspective, why such an outcome might be preferred, the Court cannot say that such an outcome is compelled by the language of any of the so-called 'regulatory' documents to which the PCMR parties refer." • a comment about the PCMR side's spring 2011 attempt to renew the leases, which included what has been previously described in court documents as a frantic weekend. It mentions Elizabeth Paul, a former accounting department employee of PCMR parent Powdr Corp. "If the Talisker Landlord Parties had made a waiver of their right to require written notice, and the PCMR Parties had actually relied on that waiver, then there would have been no reason for the circling of the wagons that occurred over the weekend of April 29-May 2, 2011. If this were the case, then when Elizabeth Paul discovered the language in the loan documents on April 29, and asked her superiors about it, the answer would have been something along the lines of 'don't worry about it, we don't have to do anything. Talisker made it plain that we didn't need to send a letter.' But discovery has now revealed, as a matter of undisputed fact, that this was emphatically not the answer Paul received," he wrote. • a discussion of the timing of Talisker Land Holdings, LLC indicating to the PCMR side its belief that the leases expired. "Under the facts here, it would at least be possible for a reasonable factfinder to conclude, from the available evidence, that the Talisker Landlord Parties acted unreasonably by failing to institute a system to track renewal of the Leases, by failing to assign such tasks to any particular employee, by failing to do anything more with the April 30/May 2 letter other than stamp it as 'received,' and generally by failing to communicate to the PCMR parties sooner (and before the PCMR parties spent money on improvements that summer) that the Talisker Landlord parties believed the Leases had expired," Harris wrote. graves are decorated for Memorial Day. There are oftentimes veterans from wars starting with World War II at the ceremony or otherwise visiting the cemetery on Memorial Day. There are no ceremonies scheduled at the Glenwood Cemetery. The cemetery association will place flags at the graves of veterans. A representative of the association that manages the cemetery will open the main gate to allow vehicle access to the grounds. The vehicle access will be available on Sunday and Monday. Get all the latest Park Record updates. Park City/Silver Creek log home Locals' Shoulder Season Special MENTION THIS AD & RECEIVE 25% OFF REPAIRS Valid through June 7th, 2014 In-House repairs & custom designs We buy gold at top prices Refresh your jewelry box with a custom redesign Perfect for entertaining with open kitchen, three-sided glass dining area and a wrap-around deck. High-end finishes include slab granite, copper sink and slate shower. 4 Beds, 3 Baths. Karin Gage Associate Broker 435.901.0049 cell [e-mail] karingage.com $497,000 Same familiar faces……NEW beautiful location SUMMER HOURS: 10-6 MON-SAT CLOSED SUNDAY 421 Main Street (2 doors down from Miner's Park) 435-200-8098